NFL Halloween Questionnaire: Players on Zombies, 'Stranger Things' & Worst Fears

Not many people will admit it, but on some level we enjoy being scared. 

Movies like The Exorcist, The Blair Witch Project and The Ring have grossed hundreds of millions of dollars. Tens of millions of viewers watch shows like The Walking Dead and Stranger Things. And Halloween is the most popular celebration in America this side of Christmas.

That last one may have something to do with the bags of candy.

Players in the National Football League are as tough as they come, but in this respect they're just like everyone else. They watch scary movies, DVR the exploits of Rick Grimes and love candy just as much as the rest of us.

With All Hallows' Eve just around the corner, Bleacher Report spoke to several NFL players regarding their favorite frightening films and shows and what scares them—both on and off the field.

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On October 22, the eighth season of AMC's The Walking Dead premiered, featuring a pitched battle that pitted Rick Grimes and the citizens of Alexandria against Negan, his barbed-wire-covered bat Lucille and the Saviors. We asked the players about their feelings on the show, who the NFL's Negan might be and what they would do if faced with a zombie apocalypse.

Do you watch The Walking Dead? If so, how, where and with whom?

Sam Acho, LB, Chicago Bears: I don't watch Walking Dead. I don't watch Stranger Things. I watch Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. I watch PJ Masks. I watch The Lion Guard. I have a three-year-old at home.

Chris McCain, DE, Los Angeles Chargers: That lost me after four episodes. It started out cool. It kept dragging and dragging. You got seven seasons, all this mess, same stuff. They done killed so many zombies. There can't be that many more zombies left in the world. They don't travel everywhere now.

Gerald McCoy, DE, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Yes, I just caught up and I'm done. I watch by myself on my phone. My wife will watch it, but when all the zombies and good stuff comes, she's like, "ehhhhh."

Russell Okung, OT, Los Angeles Chargers: I watch by myself on TV. I have to wait until my wife is gone because she won't watch it.

Who is the Negan of the NFL?

McCoy: Dang, that's like a trap question. Roger Goodell (laughing). 'Cause he run everything.

Okung: James Harrison.

What would be your plan for surviving a zombie apocalypse?

McCain: Break into a gun store, get some guns and armor and a whole lot of ammunition. If I die and everybody already is infected, so I would die and come back to life as a zombie, and I can't have all of that. So go out like a man, I guess.

McCoy: I wouldn't be Negan, but I would find a group of like-minded people. I think I'd be all right, get my family going, make sure nobody got bit or nothing.

Okung: Get guns first. Or bombs. You don't want boats and access to power. You have to get rid of your books—they don't matter anymore.

The Walking Dead isn't the only popular show to return in October that leaves its fans watching through their eyes. On October 27, the second season of Netflix's Stranger Things was released. The players had plenty to say about the show, the fictional town of Hawkins, Indiana, the Hawkins National Laboratory and the paranormal phenomena that drive the show.

Did you watch Stranger Things Season 1? Thoughts? Predictions for Season 2?

Martellus Bennett, TE, Green Bay Packers: I did. I loved it. I'm excited about Season 2. I'm probably going to binge-watch Season 1 to get ready for Season 2. It's a very creative series and well-done.

The only thing is I wish there were more representations of people of color. Why not three black kids and one white kid? The show reminds me that my calling is creativity...look at Harry Potter. Where are the black wizards? Subconsciously, black kids grow up and say, "Only white kids can go on these adventures." I want to change all of that.

Tarik Cohen, RB, Chicago Bears: I watch Stranger Things. I like it. I'm rewatching it to get ready for the second season. I think Eleven is coming back. And I think there is going to be another one like her.

Okung: Yes. It was awesome. I never thought I'd be afraid of watching children. That was the biggest surprise. My prediction is everybody gets stuck there at Upside Down.

Mark Sanchez, QB, Chicago Bears: It was a lot like E.T., '80s vibe. I thought it was pretty cool. The kid was coughing up that thing at the end into the sink, so I don't know what will happen next. The thing has to be back.

Donovan Smith, OT, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: I did. I really don't know what will happen after the way it ended with seeing through the walls. It's good. It's going to be fun when they drop it.

What paranormal or supernatural beliefs do you have?

Bennett: I pretty much believe in everything.

Okung: I think most of it is real. Usually deranged writers who create these shows probably experienced it.

Smith: I don't.

Do you believe in aliens?

Bennett: Hell yeah. Why not? We have huge egos thinking there are no aliens, but I'm sure there are. Maybe we're the aliens.

Cohen: There probably is another life form out there.

Smith: I think they possibly exist. A small part of me thinks that. There is no reasoning behind it. I just think they may be out there.

With over $117 million in earnings in its opening weekend alone, Stephen King's It is the latest film to join the ranks of horror blockbusters. The movie follows a group of children in Maine who do battle with Pennywise the Clown, an evil force that inhabits the sewers under their town. We asked the players about their feelings on clowns, the scariest movies they've ever seen and what frightens them most both on and off the gridiron.

Are clowns scary?

Acho: I'm not a fan of clowns. I find them more creepy than scary. Ronald McDonald, not a fan.

Cohen: Not really, just that clown from It.

Bob Levey/Getty Images

Kyle Long, OG, Chicago Bears: Clowns are more weird than scary. I'm interested to see where they originated and how they came about.

McCoy: No. I'd slap the taste out of a clown's mouth. I ain't scared of no clown.

Kevin Pamphile, OG, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: Yes. I'm not scared of them, but they are creepy, they are very creepy. Especially when they were killing people, that was creepy.

What's the scariest movie you've ever seen?

Cohen: It would have to be when I was younger because I'm not scared of movies anymore. Probably It, the first one.

Long: 28 Days Later. That was the first time I saw a zombie movie and they could run. They were flying.

Ali Marpet, OC, Tampa Bay Buccaneers: The Ring. It came out when I was young, and it freaked me out.

McCoy: Paranormal Activity.

Sanchez: Probably The Blair Witch Project when I was younger. That was freaky at the time. And Annabelle. I'm not big into that stuff though.

Smith: The Conjuring. I saw Chucky [in Child's Play] and that scared the s--t out of me too—I mean scared the s--t out of me.

What are you most afraid of, on and off the football field?

Acho: Nothing really. You don't get scared on the field because you are excited. But if I see a snake on the field, I'm running. It would be an automatic first down. I don't like snakes.

Long: The ocean—things in the ocean. Things we don't know about. I'm also afraid of nuclear attack. Hurricanes are scary, especially when they bring sharks. On the field, TV timeouts during the winter when you just have to stand out there.

McCoy: I hate rodents. They don't scare me, but I hate them. Rodents of any sort. On the field, failure.

Sanchez: Kyle Long—he's a scary man.

Joe Robbins/Getty Images

Smith: [On the field], an unscouted pressure that you never saw on film that catches you off guard. Off the field, I'm terrified of moths. I'm from New York. I remember being outside on the front porch. Moths go toward the light. That's where all the light was, on the porch, so there were a ton of moths there.

Of course, not everything this time of year is fear-filled and frightening. Halloween also brings with it one of the best parts of being a kid: trick-or-treating.

Bleacher Report wrapped our Halloween chat with NFL players by asking about their favorite Beggars' Night costumes as a kid and what candy they most (and least) wanted to pull from their sack of goodies when the night was done.

What's the best and worst candy to get in your trick-or-treat bag?

Acho: Best Halloween candy for me always was Twix. Worst, I'd say Jolly Ranchers. I pass on those.

Cohen: Worst candy is candy corn. Favorite would be Reese's Pieces.

Marpet: Worst are raisins and apples. Best are Reese's, Snickers.

McCoy: Worst is Almond Joys. They suck. The best is any other chocolate. I like Crunch bars, Twix, Kit Kats and Hershey's Kisses.

Sanchez: Best is king-sized Reese's. Worst would be Heath bars.

Smith: Good are Jolly Ranchers. Love those. And those little candies on a string. I like Twix, but they melt.

What was your favorite costume you ever wore or saw?

Cohen: I was a Red Power Ranger.

Marpet: When I was a lad, the Power Rangers costume was the best. I always tried to find one in an adult size and I never could. So, I'd like to be a Power Ranger, given the chance. Any color. I'd even be the frickin' Pink Ranger.

McCoy: Batman.

Sanchez: I was the Ultimate Warrior from the WWF.

Smith: I was always a doctor or a clown. We'd just get a nice, big smock.

NFL writers Mike Freeman and Dan Pompei contributed reporting for this piece.